vintage parts

[sdrob]

hello i recently won a ebay auction in which there were several tamiya cars..
firstly a sonic fighter, tires were worn but it is all original... only problem is it has had a hard front hit and snapped the chassis inline with the front wheels... can you get chassis any where been looking on ebay but no luck..

secondly a TA03R, both front C hubs are cracked on the upper camber link but that is all...parts found so all good

thirdly a TL01LA, car looks practically brand new just missing servo horn.. so again easy..

fourthly a Group C Nissan 300ZX, this is where i hit a wall.. trying to work out if it is worth fixing or not.. wheels and foams are cracked, then there is the red cage plastic which is the shock mount and braces the chassis, this has cracked in 2 places... now the bottom of chassis is not great so it will never be a shelfer and i dont have the correct body.. so all up for parts it will be $70 ish australian plus the body... are these cars worth that or not..

cheers for your help

[rccars4sal]

Rc cars are mostly never worth what they cost to restore. Molded plastic does not age well, making those type cars worth less in my opinion. Many will disagree with me on that,, its cool, we all have our preferences. If your already knee deep into them,, then might as well just wait for the parts to appear. time and patience, and a fat wallet will fix any old rc. The group c car is one of Tamiyas coolest carpet car designs. Its different because its made from molded plastic, and the colors of the plastic make it very pleasing to the eye. You alone are the final judge as to how much its worth though. I wouldnt count any of those cars as investment potential,, got to approach it from a different angle. Those are cool fun cars. The tl01 is worth keeping as a fun runner, low cost, low maintenance, cheap and easy to fix, lots of great bodies available for it.

Ta03 has historical significance, and makes a great runner, but will require more careful handling so as to not break it real bad.

Sonic fighter,, pretty sure there might have been other cars based on that design,, so parts should be cheap and easy to find on that too.

[DennisM]

Rc cars are mostly never worth what they cost to restore. Molded plastic does not age well, making those type cars worth less in my opinion. Many will disagree with me on that,, its cool, we all have our preferences. If your already knee deep into them,, then might as well just wait for the parts to appear. time and patience, and a fat wallet will fix any old rc. The group c car is one of Tamiyas coolest carpet car designs. Its different because its made from molded plastic, and the colors of the plastic make it very pleasing to the eye. You alone are the final judge as to how much its worth though. I wouldnt count any of those cars as investment potential,, got to approach it from a different angle. Those are cool fun cars. The tl01 is worth keeping as a fun runner, low cost, low maintenance, cheap and easy to fix, lots of great bodies available for it.

Ta03 has historical significance, and makes a great runner, but will require more careful handling so as to not break it real bad.

Sonic fighter,, pretty sure there might have been other cars based on that design,, so parts should be cheap and easy to find on that too.

Sonic fighter shares chassis with the Striker and perhaps the Futaba clone FX10 (someone needs to confirm)
I´m not sure that Tamiya has that chassis as a re-release.

[EvolutionRevolution]

fourthly a Group C Nissan 300ZX, this is where i hit a wall.. trying to work out if it is worth fixing or not.. wheels and foams are cracked, then there is the red cage plastic which is the shock mount and braces the chassis, this has cracked in 2 places... now the bottom of chassis is not great so it will never be a shelfer and i dont have the correct body.. so all up for parts it will be $70 ish australian plus the body... are these cars worth that or not..

cheers for your help

The Group C cars (Mercedes C11, Jaguar, Nissan, F40, IIRC) have been reissued a few years ago. If you don't care about the color of the parts and thus don't mind about using black parts instead of red, you should be able to find those parts for a lot less than 70 dollars.

However, the body will be expensive. Since the chassis has an adjustable wheelbase, you can just buy any body that was made for the Group C chassis, but keep in mind that you'll need the wing mount for actual Tamiya Group C bodies.

If you want cheap wheels with more modern foams, you can also use wheels for the Tamiya F103 chassis. The rears fit without using the Group C adapters.

Worthwhile options:
- aluminium TRF shock instead of the leak-prone yellow shock.
- alloy motor mount (F103 non-height-adjustable should fit, otherwise look for F102 parts)
- ball bearings
- one-piece diff thrust bearing

It's a fun chassis, but you need a good slab of asfalt to run it on. Can be blistering fast with a cheap brushless or brushed mod motor (mine hits up to 60 km/h with a 27 turn stock motor).

[rccars4sal]

I was just scrounging ebay for tamiya group c just for fun, and there was a pretty healthy supply of parts available. Should be an easy resto. Back in the day, I had a Tamiya catalog,, and remember drooling over the ta01-02 cars, and the group c cars. It was the color combos, red black, black blue, the bodies, the scale wheels, the wide wheel options.... Tamiya catalogs are the best at showcasing the coolness of their cars.

[terry.sc]

Group C parts are easy to get hold of as Tamiya still stocks most of them and the Honda NSX is being rereleased this spring so everything will be available including a suitable body and wheels, and the Nissan R91CP body and wheels are still easy to find even though it has been discontinued.